The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. Tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peace-makers for lack of patriotism and for exposing the country to danger. [Nazi leader Herman Goering]
(This is part one of a three-part
series. Click here to read Part Two Part Three)
Prof. Gary
Orfield of the UCLA Civil Rights Project wrote in May 2003: "The loss of civil
rights often begins with the reduction of rights in a time of crisis, for a
minority that has become the scapegoat for a problem facing the nation. The
situation can become particularly explosive in a time of national tragedy or
war. But when civil rights for one group of Americans are threatened and the
disappearance of those rights is accepted, it becomes a potential threat to
many others." [1]
Prof.
Orfield wrote this while commenting on the plight of Arabs and Muslims who were
the immediate target of Patriot Act provisions and other legislations in the
aftermath of 9/11. However his prediction proved correct about the erosion of
civil rights of all citizens. In the last ten years we have seen a steady
erosion of the fundamental rights and civil liberties, all in the name of
national security.
The gradual
erosion of our civil liberties came in the shape of Warrantless Wiretapping,
abuse of the USA PATRIOT Act, the National Security Entry/Exit Registration
System (NSEERS), the Real ID Act, the Military Commissions Act, No Fly and
Selectee Lists, Abuse of Material Witness Statute, Attacks on Academic Freedom
and monitoring peaceful groups.
The
so-called War on Terror has seriously compromised the First, Fourth, Fifth and
Sixth Amendment rights of citizens and non-citizens alike. From the USA PATRIOT
Act's over-broad definition of domestic terrorism, to the FBI's new powers of
search and surveillance, to the indefinite detention of both citizens and
non-citizens without formal charges, the principles of free speech, due
process, and equal protection under the law have been seriously undermined.
As Glenn
Greenwald pointed out, the most disgraceful episodes in American history have
been about exempting classes of Americans from core rights, and that is exactly
what these recent, terrorism-justified proposals do as well. Anyone who believes that these sorts of
abusive powers will be exercised only in narrow and magnanimous ways should
just read a little bit of history, or just look at what has happened with the
always-expanding police powers vested in the name of the never-ending War on
Drugs, the precursor to the never-ending War on Terrorism in so many ways.
[2]
To quote
Glenn Greenwald again: "A primary reason Bush and Cheney succeeded in their
radical erosion of core liberties is because they focused their assault on
non-citizens with foreign-sounding names, casting the appearance that none of
what they were doing would ever affect the average American. There were several exceptions to that tactic
-- the due-process-free imprisonment of Americans Yaser Hamdi and Jose Padilla,
the abuse of the "material witness" statute to detain American
Muslims, the eavesdropping on Americans' communications without warrants -- but
the vast bulk of the abuses were aimed at non-citizens. That is now clearly changing.
"The most recent liberty-abridging, Terrorism-justified controversies have focused on diluting the legal rights of American citizens (in part because the rights of non-citizens are largely gone already and there are none left to attack). A bipartisan group from Congress sponsors legislation to strip Americans of their citizenship based on Terrorism accusations. Barack Obama claims the right to assassinate Americans far from any battlefield and with no due process of any kind.
The Obama
administration begins covertly abandoning long-standing Miranda protections for
American suspects by vastly expanding what had long been a very narrow
"public safety" exception, and now Eric Holder explicitly advocates
legislation to codify that erosion.
"John
McCain and Joe Lieberman introduce legislation to bar all Terrorism suspects,
including Americans arrested on U.S. soil, from being tried in civilian courts,
and former Bush officials Bill Burck and Dana Perino -- while noting
(correctly) that Holder's Miranda proposal constitutes a concession to the
right-wing claim that Miranda is too restrictive -- today demand that U.S.
citizens accused of Terrorism and arrested on U.S. soil be treated as enemy
combatants and thus denied even the most basic legal protections (including the
right to be charged and have access to a lawyer). This shift in focus from
non-citizens to citizens is as glaring as it is dangerous." [3]
With the
victory of Democrats and election of Obama in 2008, it was hoped that the Bush
era of warrantless wiretapping, indefinite detention, torture and police
statism would recede. Obama was voted into office on promises that included
undoing abuses carried out under the Bush administration - promises to protect
privacy, to end government-sanctioned torture and rendition programs and to end
the use of military commissions for non-enemy combatants -- but his
administration has toed the Bush era policies.
According
to July 2011 ACLU report "Establishing the New Normal," the current
White House has not just failed to meaningfully follow through on its promises,
but has also taken abusive policies, and, as shown in the case of targeted and
interminable detentions, eroded civil rights to unprecedented levels. The ACLU enumerates the following top ten
abuses of power since 9/11: [4]
1. Warrantless Wiretapping -- Soon after the September 11 terrorist attacks, President Bush issued an executive order that authorized the infamous National Security Agency (NSA) warrantless wiretapping program. This secret eavesdropping program allowed the surveillance of certain telephone calls placed between a party in the United States and a party in a foreign country without obtaining a warrant through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
In December
2005, the New York Times reported the National Security Agency was tapping into
telephone calls of Americans without a warrant, in violation of federal
statutes and the Constitution. Furthermore, the agency had also gained direct
access to the telecommunications infrastructure through some of America's
largest companies. The program was confirmed by President Bush and other
officials, who boldly insisted, in the face of all precedent and the common
understanding of the law, that the program was legal.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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